Why the Constitution Is Timeless

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." (George Washington)

I realized something today in my study of the Founding Fathers. Though I knew it intuitively before, I can now express it more clearly. There is a reason that our Constitution - in its original intent - will never become "outdated." Anyone who says that our Constitution needs to adapt to our modern social and economic times does not have a grasp of the Constitution's true purpose.

As George Washington expressed above, our Founders did not trust government, even when it was to be placed in their own hands. Alexander Hamilton echoed the same sentiments in the Federalist Papers, stating that "the people are most in danger" when those who possess the means to injure their rights have the people's trust.

Also in the Federalist Papers, James Madison wrote that "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."

So how did our Founding Fathers "oblige the government" to control itself? In the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798, Thomas Jefferson stated it thus: "In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." (Emphasis added.)

The Constitution was not written to express the socially accepted "rights of the day!" It was not meant to provide a "guide" for Government to follow - which would need to to be updated as times changed. The Constitution was written with one over-arching purpose: to protect citizens from abuse by those in authority. And that is why its original intent must be maintained with all diligence. If we allow it to be modified, tweaked, and updated for the times, we will nullify its protective powers over our freedoms - and we WILL eventually lose those freedoms.

W. Cleon Skousen puts it this way in The 5000 Year Leap: "Anyone who says the American Constitution is obsolete just because social and economic conditions have changed does not understand the real genius of the Constitution. It was designed to control something which HAS NOT CHANGED AND WILL NOT CHANGE -- NAMELY, HUMAN NATURE."

Amen to that!!!!!

Child Rights Forces Align Against Us!

Did you hear about the study that was released in England this month, a report on home education in that nation? The report states that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) demands that the views of children be given due weight, and therefore the government should have right of access to the home, the right to interview homeschooled children alone, and the right to ensure that curriculum is "sufficiently broad and balanced and relevant" within the context of home education. On June 11, this report was accepted in full by the British Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. It is now only a matter of time before legislation is introduced and voted on by the British Parliament.

Could this ever happen in the United States? There are people working hard to make it so. Madeline Albright signed the U.N. Treaty for the United States back in 1995, but it has yet to be ratified by 2/3 vote in our Senate. Now there are possibly 60+ votes for it, and the pressure is mounting on the U.S. from both outside and inside our borders. There are only 2 nations that have not ratified the treaty - the other is Somalia, which has no functioning government. The U.S. is the only civilized nation still holding out against the world leaders at the U.N.

Here is some alarming information I recieved from ParentalRights.org. On June 1 and 2, Georgetown University Law School hosted a two-day symposium entitled “The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): Why It Is Time to Ratify.” This well-funded conference was held to organize a new coalition effort by American internationalists to seek ratification of the UN child’s rights treaty.

It is important to remember that under our Constitution, a treaty with a foreign nation - once ratified by the Senate - becomes supreme over any state or local law, and must be enforced by our federal courts and laws. Currently, education laws are handled at state and local levels. Ratification of the CRC would move oversight of all matters concerning children, including education, to the Federal level, and demand that the U.S. follow the dictates of the CRC. We only need to look at what just happened in Great Britain to see where the CRC leads regarding home education: full government oversight.

One sure protection against the CRC is to pass a Constitutional Amendment which clearly states that parents have a fundamental right to direct their children's upbringing and education. Once such language is in our Constitution, foreign treaties such as the CRC would not be able to empower governments to gain control of our children. Such an amendment has already been proposed in the House of Representatives, and currently has 95 co-sponsors.

To learn more, and to support the efforts to defeat the CRC, please visit ParentalRights.org today!

The Founding Fathers and Religion

In my study of our nation's founders, I am amazed at the genius with which they formed a government that was based on the Christian worldview, without being a specifically Christian government. I believe it to be unique in the world, and a particularly good example of the genius which our Founding Fathers often displayed, and we now take for granted.

Since our Government and Federal Courts today have forgotten how deeply the Christian worldview influenced our Founding Fathers - and that they fully expressed that worldview in public life - here are some quotes to remind us. First, from George Washington's farewell address:

• “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle.”

Note that when the Founding Fathers use the term "religion" in their writings and speeches, they are referring to the several denominations of Christianity that were prevalent in their day. This can be seen from the book Democracy in America written by French jurist Alexis de Tocqueville after spending time in the United States in 1831. Of our nation's early religion, de Tocqueville writes:

• "The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.... [They] send out ministers of the Gospel into the new Western states, lest religion should be allowed to die away in those remote settlements, and the rising states be less fitted to enjoy free institutions than the people from whom they came."

Note how the terms "Christianity" and "religion" are used interchangeably at that time in our history. Note also de Tocqueville's recognition that the whole concept of liberty for all was based on the Christian worldview. After all, it is the Bible that teaches the source of true freedom: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)

Here is one more good quote (out of possible thousands) that demonstrates our founders' acceptance and encouragement of Christianity in the public square. This is Thomas Jefferson, writing about his home town:

• "In our village of Charlottesville, there is a good degree of religion.... We have four sects, but without either church or meeting-house. The court-house is the common temple, one Sunday in the month to each. Here, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist, meet together, join in hymning their Maker, listen with attention and devotion to each others' preachers, and all mix in society with perfect harmony."

WOW! Notice how content Jefferson is with the use of a court house for Christian services every Sunday! Somehow I think the Supreme Court got the whole "separation of church and state" thing wrong. It was Jefferson who also wrote that phrase in a letter, but he obviously did not mean it the way the courts are interpreting it today. That is a different story for another day. (Or feel free to look it up yourself!)

Please copy these quotes and pass them on to your family, friends, and acquaintances. We must educate ourselves on the principles that made our nation great and free!

The Founding Fathers' View of Obama's 1st 100 Days!

Remember when President Obama told Joe the Plumber that he just wanted to "spread the wealth around?" Well, I have been reading about our Founding Fathers, and found some interesting quotes that show how they viewed the concept. This first one is from Samuel Adams, one of the architects of our Declaration of Independence, co-drafter of the Constitution of Massachusetts and the 4th Governor of that state. [My comments are in brackets like this.]

• “The Utopian schemes of leveling [which is redistribution of wealth] and a community of goods [which is central ownership of the production and distribution of stuff - like our Govt now owning a major stake in the automotive, banking, insurance, and mortgage industries, for example] are as visionary and impractical as those which vest all property in the Crown. [These ideas] are arbitrary, despotic, and, in our government, unconstitutional.”

Yes, you read that right! Samuel Adams - who helped frame our nation's earliest views of Government - just called Obama's view of Government UNCONSTITUTIONAL! I am not a radical extremist, folks ... I am just quoting a Founding Father.

Our Founding Fathers also made plain their views on a Government that tries to take care of everyone's needs with programs like, let's say ... universal healthcare, for example. Here is Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States:

• "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."

And finally, what would our Founders think of Obama, Pelosi, and yes, Bush and the Republicans too - sticking our grandchildren with trillions of dollars in debt? Here again is Thomas Jefferson:

• "...we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life [expectancy] of the majority."

Please copy these quotes and pass them on to your family, friends, and acquaintances. We must educate ourselves again on the principles of Government that made our nation great and free! I found these quotes in a book called The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, founder of the National Center for Constitutional Studies. I would highly recommend it.

A Founding Father's Family Vision

I have been reading the letters of John and Abigail Adams. Yes, that John Adams – George Washington's Vice President for 2 terms, and subsequently the 2nd President of the United States. John Adams was truly one of our most influential Founding Fathers. When reading the many letters that John and his wife wrote to each other over their years, the matters of highest importance to them become apparent; God, country and family certainly being among the foremost.

One thing that has been interesting to me is how much John Adams concerned himself with his children's education. He often inquires about the children in his letters, and writes that the particular lessons he is learning in life should be imparted to them. Abigail in one letter speaks of his habit of bringing home books for the children from his travels, which the children came to expect and enjoy as gifts from their Papa. Abigail taught them at home, and John frequently encouraged her in this regard when he was away for extended periods during the Revolution. Here are some wonderful examples.

• “The education of our Children is never out of my mind. Train them to Virtue, habituate them to industry, activity, and Spirit. Make them consider every vice, as shameful and unmanly: fire them with ambition to be useful.... Fix their ambition upon great and solid objects – and their contempt upon little, frivolous, and useless ones.”
• “John has genius and so has Charles. Take care that they don't go astray. Cultivate their minds inspire their little hearts, raise their wishes – Fix their attention upon great and glorious objects, root out every little thing – weed out every meanness, make them great and manly. Teach them to scorn injustice, ingratitude, cowardice, and falsehood. Let them revere nothing but Religion, Morality and Liberty.”

It would seem that our Founding Fathers possessed strong vision for their children's upbringing and education, and actively participated with their wives in the journey. Dads, we would do well to recapture that spirit, and become Founding Fathers for our own families!

Global Warming Is A Myth

I did an interesting Google search today: "record antarctica ice".

I was instantly shown multiple sites that carried the story/data from late last year that the ice extent at the South Pole has set a new record, and in fact has been setting records for years!

The extent of the sea ice area in the Southern Hemisphere has been tracked via satellite images since 1979, and has been on a general upward trend. The previous record was 16.03 million sq. kilometers, and was surpassed last year with a total of 16.17 million sq. kilometers.

Temperatures are falling as well. According to NASA data, the South Pole winter has cooled a total of 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1957, and the coldest year was 2004. The 2007 winter was particularly harsh throughout the Southern Hemisphere, with record snow and cold temperatures set in Australia, Africa and South America.

I found this quote in a paper from Ohio State University researcher David Bromwich. "It’s hard to see a global warming signal from the mainland of Antarctica right now."

while the North Pole seems to be in a warming trend, the South is cooling. There was also some research on winds around Antarctica being particularly stronger in recent years, affecting how the sea "mixes" and how certain atmospheric gasses are dissipated - which would actually work against global warming. The research stated that we are only just beginning to learn how all of these elements work together to impact short and long-term climate. So basically, we don't know how it all works yet.

Why do you suppose the mainstream media doesn't carry this research data? I believe it is because those who crave power and control use Global Warming as a means to gain more power and control. Fear of global catastrophe will cause many to willingly give up their rights to leaders who want to save us from Global Warming.

We need to educate ourselves on the facts, and be wise when it comes to this subject.

Freedom

Happy 4th of July! What a great day of the year!

Today we remember, between the cookouts and fireworks and time with family and friends, that our nation is very blessed to be free. That our founding fathers were brave enough to stand up against tyranny, to risk their own lives for the cause of freedom. After all, that is why their fathers crossed the ocean to find this land - to be free to live and worship as they pleased, to get out from under the oppressive rulers in Europe. They had succeeded, and built a new world with the belief that God had granted them certain rights, and that men cannot rightly stand in the way of God's wishes.

But the old tyrannical rulers of Europe saw their success, and desired to profit from it. So they extended their arm of tyranny across the Atlantic to rule in a way that conflicted with our founders' basic beliefs. And thus, the stage was set for war. Not just a war for independence and freedom of rule, but very much a war for freedom of belief in God. The freedom to be a Christian and live out their beliefs in society, in government, in the public square. It was these bold and public beliefs about God and the type of rule that God desired which caused our founding fathers to stand up to their tyrannical rulers.

If anyone tries to tell you today that our founding fathers did not have a strong Christian belief as the basis for rising up and forming their own government, ask them to explain the fact that half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had attended Christian Seminary rather than a secular course of study!

So as we remember our history today, let us also contemplate our present situation, and our future. The Supreme Court recently ruled to allow foreign prisoners of war, captured in time of war, to be protected under OUR Constitution. After this decision, these foreign enemies of our nation suddenly have the right to get a lawyer and sue in our courts to have the military release them! This decision extended Constitutional rights to non-U.S. citizens that are enemy combatants!

The Supreme Court made the right decision in another case, and ruled that the 2nd Ammendment does indeed grant the right of gun ownership to individual citizens of this nation. However four of the nine justices disagreed - actually arguing that our founding fathers only intended to allow "militias" or the military to have guns. In my opinion, these justices cannot possibly be ignorant enough to believe that the intent of those who took up their own guns to fight tyranny, did not intend for individuals to have the right to bear arms. No - I do not believe our Supreme Court justices can be that stupid. The only explanation for their dissent is that they do not AGREE with the intent of those who won our freedom, and they intend to reshape the core values of our nation.

We need to be aware of all these things, especially on this day, the birthday of our nation. And we need to be ready to stand up and speak out loud and clear when our leaders today move to undo the very values that our founders fought to secure. We need to be educated on the issues and on our own history, we need to educate our children, and we must not allow the enemies of freedom to make our nation into something less than free!

Energy Facts

Here are some energy facts I received from my Congressman.

• 69% of Americans support lowering energy prices by using U.S. domestic energy sources, such as clean coal and oil in Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf. The current leadership in Congress refuses to let the issue of drilling come to a vote.
• The U.S. expanded its dependence on OPEC oil by a full 7% last year alone.
• ANWR comprises 19 million acres in Northeast Alaska within the Arctic Circle.
• The initial footprint for proposed drilling in ANWR is 2000 acres, less than 1/3 the size of the Greater Cincinnati International Airport. Our government won't allow drilling.
• Of all the oil pumped offshore in the last 25 years, only one-thousandth of 1 percent has been spilled. (That is 0.001 percent.)
• Venezuela, Vietnam, Canada, Spain, and India all have claims to drill for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf territory. Our government won't allow drilling.
• The Institute for Energy Research estimates that we could extract enough oil from shale in our own country to meet current U.S. demand for more than 250 years.
• In 2007, the new Democratic-led Congress stopped funding a program that would facilitate the production of America's oil shale resources.

Teacher "Certification" Is A Myth!

I have been researching state course requirements to graduate high school, so I can figure out which states require a computer course and promote my curriculum there. It is astonishing to me how vastly different the state requirements are! For Math, English, Science, etc - some states require 2 years, some 3, some 4. Some are detailed in exactly what knowledge should be included in "2nd year English" while other states (like KY) just say "English 2" with no explanation of what that means. And you can forget anything close to consensus on whether to require something as elective-like as computer skills.

The most confusing of all are states like Colorado, which have NO course standards at a state level. In that state, every local school district sets their own course requirements for graduation!! Imagine if you moved across town, and suddenly your high school senior didn't meet the course requirements to graduate! I am sure the good state of CO allows exceptions in these cases, but the scenario illustrates the fact that "standards" around education are extremely subjective - even within the public school system.

So my question about teacher "certification" is this ... if there is no accepted standard of what a student should know, then how can anyone claim that a "certified" teacher in a certain state is truly equipped to teach a student what they should know??? Such a claim simply cannot be made.

Therefore, teacher certification becomes meaningless as a standard to measure anything.

Our Little Gaucho

I can't help posting this picture of Josiah. It looks like he is about to say, "Where did my six-shooter go!!"

I never thought having another little one could be so much fun. (Our next youngest, Ariana, will be 9 in March.) It is amazing that he can make me feel like I am still young AND like I am getting very old! There is no doubt, however, that our children are each a priceless blessing from God.

There are forces in this world that want to limit how many children a family is allowed to have. We all know that some countries have done this for a while. But be aware that even in our own country there exist those who feel that people are a drain on the Earth, and population should be actively controlled. We need to be vigilant in the days ahead, and be prepared to articulate the Biblical worldview that people are created by God in His image, and children are an immeasurable blessing.

Scotto

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